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If I had to choose a favorite genre, I'd pick historical fiction. History is weird, and beautiful, and scary. There are so many interesting stories an author can tell. I learn something new every time I read a historical novel.

Picking my favorite historical fiction book is impossible. I don't have a favorite! I have a million favorites! No one wants to read a blog post about my million favorites! So, I narrowed it down to 10 books that live in my head rent free. I don't know if they're my all-time favorites, but I think about them way too often.

My Favorite Historical Fiction Books Ever

The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time: the twelfth century; the place: feudal England; and the subject: the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters: into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

Why I love it: It's a book about building a cathedral in the Middle Ages. I promise it doesn't suck! Actually, it's a lot like A Game of Thrones without dragons and zombies. It starts with a mason searching for a job and then keeps sprawling outward until it's about a whole town. There are a ton of characters, but I never got confused because they're developed beautifully. They have distinctive personalities and goals. I was never mad about switching perspectives because I was invested in this town. I wanted to be in everybody's business.

For a giant book, the pacing moves quickly, and there's a new plot twist every few chapters. I can tell that the author was originally a thriller writer. Nothing goes right for these characters.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

Why I love it: It's the kind of book that makes you sit in stunned silence for a few seconds after finishing it. The story is a familiar one, but the writing is poetic and beautiful. There were several times where I stopped and reread sentences or whole paragraphs because I liked them so much. This is some of the most interesting writing I've ever seen. The strangeness of the language totally fits Death, the odd, nonhuman narrator.

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All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance.

Why I love it: Please don't watch the Netflix show. It's awful. Read the book. My copy of the book is jam-packed with pink sticky notes because I love the characters, the writing style, the nonlinear structure, the way the chapters are divided, everything. This book is a chunker (over 500 pages), but I read 300 pages in one day because I needed to know what happened next.

I want to rave about everything, but there are too many spoilers. I guess I can say that my favorite element of the story is the jewel. Mixing the legend of the jewel with a WWII battle is pure genius. According to the legend, whoever holds the jewel cannot die. A blind girl and a cancer-riddled man are willing to stay in a warzone because of this stone. It shows the lengths people will go to in order to save themselves (and others). Deep down, the characters know that magic and legends aren’t real, but there’s always a tiny chance that they could be real, right?

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Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.

An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories?

Why I love it: When I set out to make this list, Alias Grace is the first book that popped into my head. I read it 15+ years ago, and Grace is still stuck in my mind because her story is haunting. Margaret Atwood is a champion at historical research. The tiny details she includes bring 1800s Canada to life for the reader. Is Grace an evil genius, or just a badly mistreated madwoman?

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The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

In June 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.

Why I love it: It's about a group of young men who are trying to figure out what to do with their new freedom. What would you do if you had no responsibilities? Where would you go if you could go anywhere? It reminds me of the adventure stories I read as a young teen. The characters are gallivanting around the US and making bad choices. It's fun and full of humor and plot twists. If you like your characters morally gray and fatally flawed, then this is a book for you.

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Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.

Why I love it: The best word I can use to describe this book is “visceral.” The descriptions will shock you. The novel is subtly suspenseful. You know at the beginning that Agnes will be executed eventually, and you spend the entire book waiting for it to happen. Agnes doesn’t know when she will be killed, so the reader and the character are both dreading the moment when someone shows up at the door to lead Agnes to her death.

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Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys

While the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army. The ship was overcrowded with more than 10,500 passengers—the intended capacity was approximately 1,800—and more than 9,000 people, including 5,000 children, lost their lives.

Sepetys crafts four fictionalized but historically accurate voices to convey the real-life tragedy. Joana, a Lithuanian with nursing experience; Florian, a Prussian soldier fleeing the Nazis with stolen treasure; and Emilia, a Polish girl close to the end of her pregnancy, converge on their escape journeys as Russian troops advance; each will eventually meet Albert, a Nazi peon with delusions of grandeur, assigned to the Gustloff decks.

 

Why I love it: Reading this book made me feel physically cold. Like, shivery. The characters are on a ship in the Baltic Sea that’s supposed to take them to safety, but it sinks, plunging them into a freezing ocean that’s just as deadly as the war they’re fleeing. The fast-paced plot follows four young people who have been swept up in the tide of refugees trying to get out of Europe during WWII. I understand why so many readers adore this book. It has something for everybody. It’s well-researched historical fiction, so the facts appeal to history lovers like me. Adventure enthusiasts would enjoy the survival elements. There’s romance, danger, secrets, and people who can’t be trusted. I guess I recommend this book to everybody!

 

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The Smell Of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck suddenly comes her way. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled. This is a book about people who try to save each other—and how sometimes, when they least expect it, they succeed.

Why I love it: This book blew my mind. It's a short novel (240 pages), but there’s a ton of stuff packed into it. The characters are well-developed and all have their own plotlines; the setting is vivid; the writing is stunning. If you’re a writer who wants to know how to develop setting, read this book. Alaska in the 1970s is a character in this story. There are beautiful descriptions of the landscape, but the setting goes deeper than that. The author shows the values and lifestyles of small-town people. She also shows the cultural differences between the white characters and the native characters. It all feels very real.

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The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading South to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America's history.

Why I love it: What's the first book that traumatized you? This might have been my first traumatic reading experience. A teacher read this novel to my class when I was in elementary school. It starts off as a funny road trip story, and then . . . it's not so funny anymore. I have a feeling it will become a classic.

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The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis

Georgian London. Summer 1763.

Anne Jaccob is coming of age, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. When she is taken advantage of by her tutor—a great friend of her father’s—and is set up to marry a squeamish snob named Simeon Onions, she begins to realize just how powerless she is in Georgian society. Anne is watchful, cunning, and bored.

Her savior appears in the form of Fub, the butcher’s boy. Their romance is both a great spur and an excitement. Anne knows she is doomed to a loveless marriage to Onions and she is determined to escape with Fub and be his mistress. But will Fub ultimately be her salvation or damnation? And how far will she go to get what she wants?

Why I love it: You need a strong stomach for this one. It’s gory, crude, and full of violence, but if you like historical horror, I recommend giving it a try. I read it in 2018 and still find myself shuddering about it. I love this novel because it’s unusual. You don’t often hear about upper-class women committing strings of brutal murders. Anne Jaccob is a twisted character. She’s never been told “no” before. For her, people are just obstacles to overcome, so she kills them or manipulates them until they give her what she wants. Everything about this book is brilliantly messed up.

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What's your favorite historical fiction book?

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